RELATED: State to reduce $1.8 billion federal unemployment debt by $450 million Illinois is just the fifth state to top $1 trillion in annualized GDP, joining California, Texas, New York and Florida. Department of Commerce, and hit $1.024 trillion in the second quarter of this year. The state first crossed that threshold in the first quarter of 2022, according to quarterly estimates from the U.S. Using new federal data, the report says the size of Illinois' total economy has passed the $1 trillion mark in annualized GDP. That's the bottom line of a new report by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning research group, and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Whatever its woes, Illinois' economy remains a national leader and stands above that of any other Midwest state thanks to a boost from the Chicago area. In all, an outstanding addition to your world music shelf.Illinois' economy hits a rare mark, boosted by Chicago: Today's Juice, by Greg Hinz Photo: iStock He doesn't need to do this, but it makes sense because Marley fits right into Gil's crusading, humanistic world view.

Yet Gil and his band could also suddenly break into completely comfortable renditions of two Bob Marley songs ('Is This Love,' 'Stir It Up') in full reggae regalia. His tricky syncopated vocals and scatting must have been an inspiration for Al Jarreau, and his supple feeling for Brazilian rhythms, energy and quickness can be felt on this recording even without the visual element. The CD reveals Gil as a truly captivating performer, still in possession of a quicksilver voice with a beautiful falsetto, a staccato guitar style that makes his electric model sound like an acoustic, and strikingly original, even quirky tunes (including one, though sung in Portuguese, which is obviously about the Internet!). Quanta Live was recorded in Rio not long before his appearance at the Hollywood Bowl - and unlike the latter concert, which was strongly rooted in the samba, this CD more fully reflects Gil's role as a pioneer of Brazil's cosmopolitan 'tropicalismo' music movement. Gilberto Gil's world tour in 1997 was a startling revelation for North American audiences who had not heard from him live in several years, if at all.

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